Unforgettable Episode 9: Every Complaint is an Opportunity to be Unforgettable

Unforgettable is a customer experience education program, focused on delivering fresh content weekly to give business leaders what they need to succeed in a customer-driven, digitally-disrupted world. The program brings together the expert minds of Jay Baer, Shep Hyken, Jeanne Bliss, and Ian Golding to spotlight modern customer experience excellence. Get the latest content by bookmarking smartercx.com/unforgettable.

In episode 9 of Unforgettable featuring Shep Hyken, Shep discusses how to handle any complaints your company may receive, and how they can actually become a good opportunity. Shep offers a 5-step process to attack complaints head on and quickly restore your customers’ confidence in your business. Watch more:

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Hi. Shep Hyken here. Customer service and experience expert with episode #9 of Unforgettable, the show about great customer experiences. Today, we’re going to talk about how to handle complaints. If you want to be Unforgettable, then when you have a complaint, don’t just fix the problem, restore confidence. I have a five-step process that will help you do just that.

Number 1. First, you must acknowledge that there is a problem. You might say something like, “Thanks for bringing this to my attention and I can understand why you’re upset.”

Number 2. Second, is to apologize for the problem. Just say you’re sorry that this happened. By the way, you can apologize first and acknowledge second. Just make sure you do both of these at the beginning of the conversation.

Number 3. Fix the problem. Ideally, it’s remedied on the spot, but many times, you’ll discuss the solution about how it’s going to be handled.

Number 4. Have an attitude of ownership. The problem may not be your fault, but now you can own it and have the responsibility of making your customer happy.

And finally, number 5. Do it with a sense of urgency. It shows that you care and that you’re on top of the situation. Now, do these five steps and you may not only fix the problem, but you’ll also restore confidence, often to a higher level, than if the problem had never ever happened at all.

So, the lesson for companies watching is to realize that problems and complaints are opportunities to create stronger credibility and confidence with your customers.

Join me next week for another episode of Unforgettable, brought to you by Oracle CX or to binge watch all of these episodes, go to smartercx.com/unforgettable. Thanks for watching.

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